A federal jury in Oklahoma on Monday found former Garvin County detention deputy Paula Kelley guilty of violating federal civil-rights law after prosecutors said she failed to secure needed medical care for pretrial detainee Kayla Turley, who later died. The case, centered on Turley’s hospitalization and death in August 2023, marks the first jury conviction in a wide-ranging federal investigation of the county jail. Jurors concluded Kelley acted with deliberate indifference to Turley’s serious medical needs, conduct prosecutors say resulted in bodily injury and death.
Verdict and reaction
According to KOKH, the jury convicted Kelley of violating 18 U.S.C. 242. The charge carries a maximum possible sentence of life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester said the verdict "affirms the importance of protecting the constitutional rights of those held in our detention facilities," according to the outlet. FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater said investigators concluded jail staff failed to obtain clearly needed medical care for a pretrial detainee, and that failure "undermines the respect and reputation of all law enforcement."
Indictment and federal investigation
Federal prosecutors first brought the case in December 2024, when a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging five detention staffers and a correctional nurse and alleging that the defendants were deliberately indifferent to a detainee identified in court documents as K.T., according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Coverage of staffing and conditions at the Garvin County Jail in December 2024 also highlighted the original indictment and the growing concerns about how the lockup was being run.
Guilty pleas from other staff
Before Kelley ever faced a jury, four former detention deputies and a former jail nurse pleaded guilty to related federal civil-rights charges, according to local reporting. As KOKH reported, Jennifer Baxter, Lynsee Noel, Vincent Matthews, Alesha Ingram and Melissa Melton admitted in plea agreements that they were deliberately indifferent to Turley’s safety or medical needs. The plea documents state those five defendants each face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.
Legal stakes
Prosecutors brought the case under 18 U.S.C. 242, a federal statute that criminalizes the willful deprivation of constitutional rights by individuals acting under color of law. In its indictment announcement, the U.S. Attorney's Office noted that convictions under this law can result in life sentences, depending on the severity of the harm. A federal judge will ultimately determine Kelley’s punishment after weighing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
Turley’s final days and local fallout
Local reporting states that Kayla Lee Turley, 32, was booked into the Garvin County Jail in mid-July 2023 and was taken to the hospital multiple times before she was found unresponsive in her cell on August 7. She was transported for emergency medical care and died on August 9, 2023.
That reporting, which draws on FBI affidavits, surveillance footage and an autopsy report, says Turley was treated for dehydration, low platelets and elevated liver enzymes. The autopsy listed her cause of death as multi-system organ failure related to hepatitis of undetermined cause, and her sister has since filed a federal civil lawsuit. NonDoc first published many of the investigative details that prosecutors later used in the federal case.
A sentencing date for Kelley has not yet been set, but the conviction is expected to play a central role in the remaining criminal proceedings and in the civil litigation surrounding Turley’s death. As the federal case continues, county leaders are facing renewed calls to take a hard look at medical care and staffing at the Pauls Valley jail.
